Everything water, from mill to fort

Nieuwkoop is located in the polder and is a peat bog area that originated from the 16th century. It covers a small part of the nature reserve Nieuwkoopse Plassen. The lakes are often used for recreation on the water, with a large marina nearby you will mainly see cabin boats in this area. The water is quite clean and has a strong plant growth. Water gentian and the water lily, but also floating pontoons of water hemlock and fields of water soldier are no exception. A great diversity of marsh birds lives in and around the banks and the meadows. The increasingly rare black tern, but also the great and small reed warbler and the mustache like to breed here. Fish eaters such as the purple heron and the cormorant survive on what the lakes have to offer them. The small, winding peat river the Mije leads through the polder and the meadow area and gives extra atmosphere to the area, in which many centuries-old, characteristic farms can still be seen.

From the parking lot you cycle to the Aarlanderveen Mill No. 4. This mill is located about a kilometer west of Aarlanderveen and is also called the Putmolen. The mill is part of the Molenviergang Aarlanderveen and was built in 1801 to drain the lowest part of the polder, called De Put. A large peat lake had formed here after peat extraction, which had to be drained.

Another part of the same mill quadrangle is the Ondermolen, which is also called Mill No. 1. The current mill dates from 1924, but replaced a mill from 1786 that burned down. The mill was built with parts of a mill that had previously become redundant in Zoetermeer. Mill No. 1 was the level mill and gave the other mills the signal to start or stop pumping the polder.

You cycle on to the Nieuwkoopse Plassen, and in Nieuwkoop it might be nice to stop by the Nieuwkoopse Plassen Visitors Centre. Or you cycle on to the Fort aan de Drecht. Construction of this fort began in 1884. The fort consists of a main building, which does not have a front building but a postern. The front wall has been well preserved, and the fort guard's house and the storage shed have been rebuilt. The fort is surrounded by a moat. You can enter the fort via a reconstructed access bridge.

The Fort at Kudelstaart is also an interesting sight. The fort was built at the end of the nineteenth century. The first groundworks took place in 1890 and the fortress itself was built in 1905 and 1906. In terms of appearance, the fort has been well preserved; one of the two fort guard houses and the storage shed are still present. The moat surrounds the fortress unchanged, although the access bridge has been replaced by two dams. The original situation around the fort has also been preserved; the surrounding water and infrastructure are virtually unchanged. The rest of the polder has now been set up for greenhouse cultivation, which places the fort in greater contrast with its surroundings.